Book review

Anna Hazare s fast unto death in August 2011, demanding the enactment of a strong Lokpal Bill, was a watershed moment in post-independence India. Coming soon after a slew of corruption exposés, the movement galvanized an increasingly disenchanted middle class like nothing had in decades.Well-known Hindi journalist Ashutosh weaves together the story of the thirteen days that changed India. He had a ringside view of the developments, stationed as he was at the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, the venue of the fast, and had intimate access to the two warring parties: the Congress government at the Centre and Team Anna. Evoking the Jayaprakash Narayan movement and Gandhi s satyagraha, Ashutosh mines the history of India s post-independence politics to understand the phenomenon that is Anna Hazare.